Kansas City Comets prepare for St. Louis Ambush, draft pair of local soccer standouts
Through five games, the Kansas City Comets are pleased with their start to the 2023-24 Major Arena Soccer League season.
The Comets sit near the top of the Eastern Conference with a 4-1 record. Their lone loss was Dec. 17 against the Texas Outlaws of the Western Conference, a game KC played with a depleted squad on the back end of a doubleheader.
A big reason for the Comets’ hot start is the play of goalkeeper Nicolau Neto. He’s among the league leaders in saves, save percentage and goals-against average and anchors one of the league’s top defenses.
“I’m not doing it by myself,” Neto said. “I have a great group of guys that are blocking shots; we have a solid defense and that has contributed to a lot of our success so far this season.”
Offseason additions Berto Palmer and Chad Vandegriffe have been excellent shot-blockers for Kansas City.
“Two of the best defenders in the league are now playing for us, making my life a lot easier,” Neto said “I just have to make saves when they can’t make blocks.”
The Comets, who have this week off, are hoping to welcome some players back from injury as they prepare to play host to the St. Louis Ambush on Thursday.
First-year head coach Stefan Stokic describes his team as a work in progress as conference play resumes.
“One of my speeches this week was we have to respond,” Stokic said. “We’ll see how good of a team we are depending on how we play the next game. We need to make a statement to say that we can respond after losing.”
After Thursday’s contest at Cable Dahmer Arena, the Comets and Ambush will meet again in St. Louis for the Ambush’s annual New Year’s Eve game.
All three of the Comets-Ambush matchups in St. Louis last year went into overtime, with the Comets winning one.
“It’s always difficult to get wins over there,” Stokic said. “Every time we play St. Louis it becomes a battle. We have to have a dominant win, but it won’t be easy because they always play their best against us.”
Comets draft local standouts
The Comets selected a pair of NAIA All-Americans in the recent 2023 MASL College Draft.
In the first round, the Comets took MidAmerica Nazarene’s Jony Muñoz. In the second round, the Comets selected UMKC defender Carson Lindsey.
Muñoz, the only Kansan to win the Gatorade Boys’ Soccer National Player of the Year award and an Olathe West state champion, recently helped MidAmerica Nazarene to the program’s first NAIA national title.
Lindsey, a graduate of Park Hill South, earned AMC Freshman of the Year in 2019 and Player of the Year in 2020 during his time at Columbia College.